Illini AD: Hiring Lovie Smith was 'transformational opportunity'

CHICAGO — Josh Whitman made a swift and immediate impression that Illinois football aspires to become more than a Big Ten also-ran.

By midmorning on his first day as Illinois' athletics director, Whitman ousted football coach Bill Cubit. Two days later, Whitman announced former Chicago Bears coach Lovie Smith for the same position.

The moves belie the experience of someone like Whitman, 37. Cubit was a respected veteran coach who replaced Tim Beckman in 2015 on an interim basis. Cubit then was hired in November on an unusual two-year contract. But the lack of a long-term deal made Cubit expendable under a new athletics director, especially with Smith's availability.

'When I realized there was an opportunity to attract someone like Lovie Smith, that moment might not have been there six months from now or a year from now,' Whitman told The Gazette in May. 'Sometimes opportunities present themselves and if you stand there and hesitate, it will pass you by and you miss out on what could be a transformational opportunity for your program. We had the opportunity to go out and hire one of the best football coaches in America. If we didn't have that opportunity, we might have made a different decision. But we did. We feel really good about it.'

Illinois' football history is littered with bright flashes followed immediately with intense darkness. Ron Turner led the Illini to the 2001 Big Ten title and a Sugar Bowl berth. The next five years Illinois was a combined 13-45. Then in 2007, Ron Zook took the program to the Rose Bowl. Illinois followed with an 8-16 performance the next two seasons.

In 2011, the Illini won their first six regular-season games, then lost their last six. The Illini have failed to notch a winning regular season since 2007. Despite residing in the state with the league's largest population base, the Illini rarely are relevant within the Big Ten, let alone nationally.

'Major college football is a big-time, competitive environment,' Whitman said. 'Our university, our athletic program, we need to be in that conversation. Getting football into a little more positive place is the first step in doing that. Very quickly you've seen the Big Ten become a coaches' league. It's a league that's dominated by strong personalities, successful coaches. And for us to have the chance to be a part of that and enter ourselves into a conversation we've been absent from too long, I think, is critical. Now whether it's recruiting, whether it's media, whether it's our fans, we're engaged in a conversation that we haven't been a part of for a long time.'

Whitman brings passion to his position, and a stature to match. He was a four-year letterman and two-year starter at Illinois under Turner. Whitman earned academic All-American honors in 2000 and spent parts of four seasons in the NFL. He graduated from Illinois' law school in 2008 and was athletics director for two years at Division III Washington University in St. Louis before returning to Champaign.

Smith, who won three division titles and once NFC crown in Chicago, provides instant credibility to a wandering program. Among Big Ten West Division public universities, Illinois ($7.09 million) had the second-lowest ticket revenue in fiscal year 2015, ahead of only Purdue ($5.49 million). That's far below divisional foes Nebraska ($30.17 million), Iowa ($21.75 million) and Wisconsin ($20.15 million).

With the Illini trailing their neighbors by all statistical measurements, it was vital to reboot the football program and reinvigorate the athletics department. That's part of the reason why Whitman moved swiftly on his first day as athletics director and not opt for the status quo.

'The splash was nice certainly and we're happy to have that, but really it was the substance of the person and the work that's ongoing now that's appealing to us,' Whitman said. 'In a perfect situation you're able to find someone who does both and kind of 'wins the press conference' but also who has the substance to do the work. In Lovie's case, I think we were able to capture both, and that's been great for us thus far.

'I think the reaction has been overwhelmingly positive. People are excited. I think all recognize this is not an overnight fix. We didn't get to this point overnight, and we won't get out of it that quickly, either. But I think you have to start with a step and this obviously was a big step for us. So I think that what we needed to feel was a commitment to excellence.'

l Comments: (319) 339-3169; scott.dochterman@thegazette.com